Wendell Bell

Sonny Stitt - The Complete Roost Sonny Stitt Studio Sessions (1952-65) {9CD Box Set Mosaic MD9-208 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 3.05 Gb | MP3 @320 -> 1.37 Gb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 110 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1952-65, 2001 Mosaic Records / Capitol / EMI | MD9-208 | 24-bit remaster
Jazz / Bop / Saxophone

Under the watchful eye of famed producer Michael Cuscuna, this nine-CD set serves as a compilation of Stitt's 1950s and 1960s Roost LPs. This release also features a 28-page booklet consisting of comprehensively annotated liners. Moreover, the record label does its best to convey the artistic element via a series of black-and-white photos of Stitt and his sidemen amid anecdotes by many of the late saxophonist's affiliates. Interestingly enough, seven of the original LPs did not list personnel. In some instances, guesses were made, although most of these tracks are well-documented, thanks to the producer's diligence and painstaking research. Artists such as drummer Roy Haynes, bassist/composer Charles Mingus, and pianist Harold Maber represent but a few of Stitt's accompanists.

Eddie Costa - Guys and Dolls Like Vibes (1958) {Verve Master Edition 549 366-2 rel 2001}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 144 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 94 Mb
Full Artwork @ 600 dpi (jpg) -> 126 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1958, 2001 Coral / Verve / UMG | 549 366-2 | Verve Master Edition Series
Jazz / Bop / Vibes

The reissue of Eddie Costa's Guys and Dolls Like Vibes once again makes available one of his few dates as a leader. A talented vibraphonist (and also pianist, though he doesn't play it on this 1958 session), Costa leads a sterling quartet with the legendary Bill Evans on piano (although he was just starting to get noticed by the jazz press at the time), Wendell Marshall on bass, and drummer Paul Motian, in a Frank Loesser songbook taken from the musical Guys and Dolls.

Lem Winchester & Benny Golson - Winchester Special (1959) {Prestige–NewJazz OJCCD-1719-2 rel 1991}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 264 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 95 Mb
Full Artwork @ 300 dpi (jpg) -> 20 Mb | 5% repair rar
© 1959, 1991 Prestige/NewJazz Records / Fantasy | OJCCD-1719-2
Jazz / Hard Bop / Straight-ahead Jazz / Vibes / Saxophone

This excellent CD reissue features the ill-fated vibraphonist Lem Winchester teamed up with tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, pianist Tommy Flanagan, bassist Wendell Marshall and drummer Art Taylor for three standards, an obscurity and two of the leader's originals. The music falls between bop and hard bop with consistently swinging solos that are generally fairly inventive. This was one of Winchester's three recordings for the New Jazz label; all are easily recommended to straightahead jazz fans.